Why the Era of Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'N' Roll Is about to Go Global

As prosperity becomes the global norm, expect a sea change in
social values. 'Survival' values are waning and 'self-expression'
values are gaining.

Although the United States remains stuck in the economic
doldrums, it is fair to call these the best of times for the world
as a whole.

Thanks to rapid growth in China, India, and other less-developed
countries, recent decades have brought about greater improvements in
material welfare than any corresponding period in history. According
to the World Bank, 42 percent of people in less-developed countries
lived in extreme poverty as of 1990. By 2005, the number had shrunk
to 25 percent. Hundreds of millions of people have been liberated
from the tyranny of acute scarcity.

IN PHOTOS: The Rising Global Middle Class

As poverty recedes, a new global middle class is emerging. Twenty
years ago, the middle class - those who make between $10 and $100 a
day - made up one-third of the world population. By 2006, it was
closer to three-fifths, estimates economist Surjit Bhalla. That
increase represents the crossing of a crucially important threshold:
Disposable income has gone from the exception to the rule. For the
first time ever, most people around the world can now make
meaningful choices about their material surroundings.

Filling bellies, fulfilling egos

The rise of the global middle class will have a profound impact
on the center of economic and political gravity, shifting it
eastward and southward, from North America and Europe toward Africa,
Latin America, and Asia. But just as important is the global
cultural revolution that is now under way.

RELATED LIST: Who are the BRICS?

For all of human history, beliefs, values, and social norms were
adapted to a world of mass poverty - where choices were limited and
generational change was imperceptible. As the new social reality of
spreading affluence asserts itself, cultural transformation is
unavoidable as attitudes and behaviors change to reflect the new
conditions of expanding choice and accelerating change.

Recall the psychologist Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of
needs. "It is quite true that man lives by bread alone - when there
is no bread," Maslow wrote in 1943. "But what happens to men's
desires when there is plenty of bread and when his belly is
chronically filled?" Other psychic needs come to the fore -
including, ultimately, the need for "self-actualization" or
realizing one's inner potential.

Maslow's analysis applies to societies as well. When capitalist
wealth-creation carries a society past the threshold of mass
affluence, at which point most people don't worry about meeting
basic material needs, aspirations shift upward to quality of life
and personal fulfillment. And any beliefs or practices that hinder
the new quest for self-actualization tend to meet with increasingly
stout resistance.

In this regard, it's important to recognize that economic growth
isn't just about having more stuff. Growth also means development:
the continuing discovery and development of human capabilities.
Specifically, the richer and more advanced the economy grows, the
more complex it becomes. That in turn triggers a rising demand for
more highly skilled "knowledge workers."

The boom in human capital

The result is a global boom in what economists call "human
capital." Adult illiteracy was cut in half between 1970 and 2005.
And formal education levels are rising around the world. …

The rest of this article is only available to active members of Questia

Print this page

While we understand printed pages are helpful to our users, this limitation is necessary
to help protect our publishers' copyrighted material and prevent its unlawful distribution.
We are sorry for any inconvenience.